Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An outstanding Rioja Reserva that has some fine plushness from the oak. Dark chocolate, cedar, dark spices and a hint of truffle to the fresh blackberries. Juicy and dusty with very firm yet dusty tannins on the fine-grained and full-bodied palate. Long, structured and well-knit.
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Wine Spectator
Well-balanced and silky on the palate, this classy red features a beam of ripe mulberry fruit, with creamy tannins and aromatic hints of dried flowers, crushed pine and sandalwood, followed by a plush finish. Drink now through 2029. 29,100 cases made, 7,000 cases imported.
Hailed as the star red variety in Spain’s most celebrated wine region, Tempranillo from Rioja, or simply labeled, “Rioja,” produces elegant wines with complex notes of red and black fruit, crushed rock, leather, toast and tobacco, whose best examples are fully capable of decades of improvement in the cellar.
Rioja wines are typically a blend of fruit from its three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta and Alavesa, at the highest elevations, are considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier, Rioja Oriental, produce wines with deep color, great body and richness.